Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Dissension within the Ranks
Chapter 4
Bridge, Z, and Sky were eating dinner at the cafeteria.
"I can't believe Jack attacked you two!" Z exclaimed.
"Yeah and I can't believe Syd attacked you Z!" Bridge commented.
"He always does this!" Z remarked ignoring Bridge's comment.
"Does what?" Sky asked.
"Whenever he finds out a guy is remotely interested in me, Jack threatens them or scares them off, but I've never known him to actually follow through with his threats like he did today," Z explained.
"Don't worry Z, we're not afraid of Jack," Sky said comfortingly.
"Speak for yourself Sky," Bridge stated.
"Look Bridge, Jack can't hurt you. He's in prison now," Sky said.
"What if he escapes?" Bridge asked frightened.
"If he escapes, the alarms will sound, and we'll catch him before any harm is done and he'll be back in prison," Sky answered.
"How can you say that Sky? Jack doesn't belong in prison!" Z exclaimed.
"Oh and Syd does?" Sky remarked.
"She attacked me!" Z answered.
"Jack attacked Bridge and me!" Sky exclaimed.
"I don't believe this! You love the thought of Jack in prison don't you?" Z yelled.
"That's not true! We're a team Z! I'm just saying that right now I think it's best if we're separated until everyone cools off," Sky explained.
"What is it with you and defending Syd?" Z snapped.
"Who said I was defending her?" Sky asked.
"You practically said she doesn't belong in prison!" Z remarked.
"Well you know what I don't get about you?" Sky asked Z.
"What?" Z answered.
"I thought this is what you wanted? Syd is out of the picture temporarily so you can have me all to yourself, yet you want Jack out of prison even though he attacked Bridge and me," Sky said.
"I care about Jack!" Z shouted. After she realized what she said, she gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
"I thought you cared about me, but I guess not huh?" Sky said getting up from the table and walking out of the cafeteria.
"Sky wait," Z said.
Sky ignored what Z said and just kept walking.
"I thought you cared about Sky too," Bridge added.
"Bridge, I do. It came out the wrong way!" Z explained.
"Well, you might as well forget about dating Sky, because I think you just broke his heart," Bridge commented.
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In the prison section of the academy, were Jack and Syd. They were in separate cells that happened to be facing one another.
"I bet Sky loves this. Here I am in prison, and Mr. Second-in-Command probably gets to take over as leader!" Jack remarked.
"Z probably loves this as well. With me and prison, she can make her move on Sky without me getting in the way!" Syd stated.
"I can't believe Cruger took away our morphers!" Jack commented.
"It serves you right for attacking Sky!" Syd shouted.
"Yeah well it serves you right for attacking Z!" Jack snapped.
"It was self defense Jack! Z was attacking me too!" Syd explained.
"Oh, so using a fist of iron is self defense?" Jack asked.
Syd was silent.
"Because to me that sounds like cheating!" Jack stated.
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Sky entered the command center where he found Cruger. He saluted and then stood in front of him at attention.
"What is it cadet?" Cruger asked.
"Sir, I think you should release Jack and Syd from prison," Sky answered.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Sky," Cruger answered.
"But sir, don't you see what this is doing to the team?" Sky asked.
"If you mean did I see how you, Bridge, and Z were attacked today then yes," Cruger replied.
"This is destroying our team," Sky stated.
"Cadet, I cannot have any threat to security roaming the hallways freely!" Cruger yelled.
"Whatever happened to them being 'your rangers'?" Sky asked.
"They are," Cruger said.
"Then let them free," Sky answered.
"I cannot and I will not and that's final cadet!" Cruger shouted.
Sky saluted and left realizing that he wasn't going to win this battle.
XXXXXXXXXX
At Grumm's ship, Grumm was planning his next attack on Newtech City.
"Broodwing, what is the biggest explosive device you have for sale?" Grumm asked the mercenary.
"It's…" Broodwing started to answer.
"Nevermind that, I'll take it," Grumm interrupted.
"Ah but as you know my Emperor, I do not simply give things away for free," Broodwing said.
"Why of course not. Will this do?" Grumm asked holding up a thick bundle of cash.
"Oh yes. That'll be just fine," Broodwing answered happy to get more money.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Open!" Sky commanded outside of Syd's prison cell.
Sky ran up to Sky and embraced him in a hug.
"Oh Sky, I'm so happy to see you! You have to get me out of here! I can't stand being here!" Syd said frantically.
"Here's the thing Syd. I tried that. I talked to the Commander and asked that you and Jack be set free, but he said 'no'," Sky explained.
"Wait a second. You actually asked that I be set free too?" Jack asked shocked.
"Of course I did Jack. We're a team remember?" Sky answered.
"Wow! Here I thought Sky would be thrilled that I'm in prison," Jack thought to himself.
"I'll keep trying to talk the Commander into letting you two out, but let's get one thing straight. This kind of behavior must stop. It's destroying our team," Sky commented.
"If you would have just stayed away from Z, none of this would've happened," Jack stated.
"I never even did anything with Z Jack!" Sky yelled.
"Jack, Sky's the one trying to get us out of here, at the very least you could show some gratitude," Syd scolded.
Just then, they heard "Rangers, please report to the command center immediately! I repeat rangers, please report to the command center immediately!"
"I have to go," Sky said. "Open!" The prison door opened at the sound of Sky's voice and closed behind him.
"Please be careful Sky," Syd thought to herself.
XXXXXXXXXX
Within moments, Z, Bridge, and Sky were in the command center standing at attention before their Commander.
"The krybots are up to something again. I want the three of you to go to sector C and stop whatever it is they are up to," Cruger commanded.
"Just the three of us sir?" Sky asked.
"Yes, Sam and I will remain here in the event of another attack while you three are busy," Cruger answered. "Now, go!"
"Yes sir!" the blue, yellow, and green rangers answered in unison.
"Ready?" Sky asked.
"Ready!" Bridge and Z answered.
"S.P.D. Emergency!" the three shouted in unison.
Sky got on his bike while Z and Bridge got into a jeep and were on their way.
XXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile in sector C, the krybots led by an orange head and two blue heads had finished tying up all the workers they could catch with rope. The krybots had occupied a warehouse and taken the workers prisoner, but that was just the beginning of their problems.
Within minutes, the three rangers arrived at the warehouse.
"Cruger did say sector C right?" Bridge asked.
"That's what I heard," Z answered.
"Stay alert," Sky stated.
They headed into the warehouse.
By this time, the orange head had finished setting the timer on the explosive device Grumm had purchased from Broodwing. It was set to go off in 30 minutes.
The rangers had made their way into the warehouse and were scanning the place for krybots.
"Do you guys see anything?" Sky asked.
"No. It's weird. I thought Cruger said the krybots were up to something yet I don't even see any krybots," Z answered.
"Yeah, you'd think the krybots would be attacking us as soon as we entered the warehouse," Bridge added.
Little did the rangers know that they were walking into a trap. The krybots weren't attacking the rangers yet, because they wanted to take up as much time as possible so that the rangers and the workers would be caught in the explosion.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the Academy, Kat and Cruger were monitoring what was happening at the warehouse.
"Oh no!" Kat exclaimed.
"What is it Kat?" Cruger asked.
"Not only do the krybots have the workers tied up, but they've also set up some kind of explosive device!" Kat answered.
"What?" Cruger yelled angry that he may have just sent three of his rangers right into the trap.
"That's not all Doggie. This explosive device is like nothing I've ever seen and could very well bring the entire warehouse down on top of anyone who happens to be inside when it explodes," Kat stated.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the warehouse, the rangers had finally made it to the back of the warehouse where the krybots, the workers, and the bomb happened to be.
"There you are rangers. What took you so long?" the orange head asked.
The normal krybots dispersed to attack the rangers while the two blue heads and the orange head stayed back dragging this battle out as long as they could. Their plan was working. The timer on the bomb displayed 20 minutes.
Z had formed her Delta Max Striker and blasted a krybot in front of her, another to her left, to her right, and behind her.
Bridge also had formed his Delta Max Striker. He leapt into the air and fired short circuiting four krybots as well.
Sky on the other hand chose to use his Patrol Grip. He ducked a punch by a krybot and elbowed the krybot in the back of the head. A second krybot attempted a kick. Sky caught its leg and swept its other leg out from under it. A third krybot threw a punch that Sky blocked. Sky nailed the krybot in the stomach with his Patrol Grip sending the krybot flying backwards several feet. A fourth krybot had a laser instead of a hand and fired at Sky. The blue ranger avoided the attack through a diving somersault. In the process of completing his somersault, Sky had formed his Delta Max Striker and by the time Sky finished his somersault, he crouched and blasted the krybot.
All that stood in the rangers' way now was the orange head and the two blue heads. The timer on the bomb displayed 15 minutes.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the Academy, Kat and Cruger were watching nervously hoping that the rangers would be able to disarm the bomb or at least get the workers and themselves out of there in time.
"We've gotta warn them about the bomb!" Cruger exclaimed.
Kat contacted the rangers. "Rangers, there's an explosive device set to go off. You need to try to disarm it if you can. If not, then just make sure to get the workers and yourselves out of there before it explodes!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the warehouse, one of the blue heads went to attack the rangers while the orange head and the other blue head stayed behind.
"Why is only one blue head attacking?" Z asked.
"They're trying to drag the battle out so we have less time to disarm the bomb and/or get the workers out," Sky explained. "Too bad that won't work though. I'll take the orange head. Z and Bridge, you take the two blue heads!"
"Got it," Bridge and Z replied.
One of the blue heads fired a laser at Z. Z dove out of the way. Then fired her Delta Max Striker at it knocking it back several feet until it crashed into a wall and short circuited.
Bridge fired his Delta Max Striker at the other blue head. It dove out of the way and returned fire. Bridge avoided that. Then, the blue head was blasted in the back by Z and her Delta Max Striker. The blue head dropped to the ground short circuited.
Sky fired his Delta Max Striker at the orange head, but it deflected the attack with its sword.
"Time for a shock!" the orange head said. It sent orange lightning into the three rangers knocking them to the ground.
"That does it! R.I.C. you're on!" Sky said throwing up the bone. R.I.C. caught it in his mouth and transformed into the Canine Cannon.
"Canine Cannon!" the rangers said.
"Ready? Fire!" Sky commanded.
"Time for a shock!" the orange head said sending orange lightning to meet the blast from the Canine Cannon.
The two blasts met in the middle and neither side seemed to be getting the advantage.
"Full power rangers!" Sky ordered. With that, the blast from the Canine Cannon won shattering the orange head into pieces.
Bridge then ran to the explosive device to try to deactivate it since after all, he was the mechanical genius of the group.
In the meantime, Z and Sky were working on cutting the rope that tied the workers together.
"Guys, there's only 5 minutes left!" Bridge warned.
Z and Sky had succeeded in cutting the rope and were escorting the workers out of the warehouse. By the time they got back, the timer on the explosive device displayed 2 minutes.
"Guys, I have no idea how to turn this thing off! This is like nothing I've ever seen before!" Bridge exclaimed.
"Forget it Bridge, let's go!" Sky ordered.
"No! Think of how many dollars in damage it will be if the explosive device goes off! I have to deactivate it!" Bridge replied.
"Bridge, you've been trying to deactivate it and to no avail. Sky's right. Let's just go!"
"No! You guys told me to deactivate the explosive device and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" Bridge responded.
Sky turned Bridge so that he was looking at him face to face. "Listen to me Bridge, it's ok. You've done your best, and that's all you can do and all anyone expects," Sky said.
"If this goes off, all of those workers will be out of jobs and I can't allow that to happen!" Bridge said. He turned his attention back to the explosive device. The timer on it read 30 seconds.
"Forgive me Bridge," Sky said karate chopping the back of Bridge's neck knocking him unconscious. "Z, take Bridge and get out of here!" Sky ordered.
"What about you?" Z asked.
"There's only 30 seconds left. That's not enough time for you to make it out of here. I'll power down and create a force field that will keep the explosion at bay while you and Bridge get out of here!" Sky explained.
"Are you crazy? The explosive device is powerful enough to bring this entire warehouse down! There's no way your force field can stand up to that!" Z exclaimed.
"I know my force field can't stand up to the explosion. It's not supposed to. It's just supposed to buy you and Bridge enough time to make it to the exit. Now go!" Sky ordered.
Z reluctantly did as she told draping one of Bridge's arms over her behind her neck and over her shoulder walking him towards the exit.
Sky had powered down. He then heard Cruger contact him through his morpher.
"Cadet Tate, this is an act of suicide! I will not have you putting your life in jeopardy! Stand down! That is an order!" Cruger commanded.
"I can't sir! As it stands, Bridge and Z won't make it out of the warehouse in time, and I'm the only one with powers that can hold back the explosion. I'm sorry, but this is the only way!" Sky said.
The timer on the explosive device displayed that there was five seconds left. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second. Then, it exploded.
Sky waved his right arm in a circle and erected a force field holding the explosion back.
Z heard the explosion start. "Oh God, Sky!" Z shouted.
She heard, "Forget about me Z! Keep going and don't look back!"
Z could see the entrance/exit was just a few feet away. She tightened her grip on Bridge and continued walking.
Every muscle in Sky's body was straining. Throwing up a force field required just as much if not more mental energy as it did physical energy because after all, Sky did create force fields with his mind. Every muscle in Sky's body ached and felt like it was on fire. Sweat was pouring down his face. The heat from the explosion although the explosion itself was held back by his force field was unbearable. Sky had started to develop a massive headache.
Z had made it out of the warehouse with Bridge and put Bridge in the passenger side of the jeep. She then went over to the driver's side and started the engine. The two of them made their way back to the Academy without Sky.
"Well Dad" Sky thought to himself. "I know you're in heaven watching over me, and it looks as though I'll be seeing you sooner rather than later because it doesn't look like I'll be making it out of here alive. Z, Bridge, Syd, Jack, I'm doing this for you. This whole mess that happened today was all my fault. If Syd and Z hadn't been fighting over me, none of this would've happened. If I hadn't made Jack jealous, none of this would've happened. At least with me gone, the four of you can be a team again without me there to cause any problems. Cruger, Commander, please forgive me for I have failed you."
Sky couldn't hold up the force field any longer. It dropped and the explosion consumed him. The very next moment, the entire warehouse was falling down on top of him.
To Be Continued…
Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks once again to everybody who has read and/or reviewed my fanfic. I know I've been pretty good about updating, but I don't know how much longer that will continue as I am in summer school at college and I have finals this Thursday, but we'll see.